Five Years Gone
by velja
Summary: Damon comes back to a world he doesn't recognize. Elena and Stefan are over, there's a wedding to be held and… who is this kid, bugging him twenty-four-seven and hero-worshipping the ground he walks on? What freaking bizzare world did he come back to?
1. Waking Up

**Five Years Gone**

_My other fics ('Living With Vampires' and 'You Again, You Forever') are going nowhere at the moment because this needs to be written. This won't have more than three or four chapters, so I hope to complete it this weekend. After that I'll maybe find inspiration for my other fics again. Sorry if you're waiting for updates. This is what's on my mind now._

_And it's something completely different. I've never written anything like this before and I don't know where the idea came from. The title was stolen from an episode of 'Heroes', Season One._

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any character you recognize from the show. I do however own two characters in this story. I came up with them by myself and I borrowed the name of one from one of my other fics from a totally different fandom – so I don't think anyone reading this will recognize him at all._

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Chapter One 

**Waking Up**

They say that scent is the most powerful sense there is and it's true.

The first thing Damon noticed when the thick fog partly lifted from his head was the scent in the air. A soft warm breeze fluttered over his face and left the smell of rosemary, thyme and other herbs in his nose. It was accompanied by the strong and more earthly scent of wood, and he was also able to detect traces of roses and other flowers in it.

Damon's first thought was that he had to be outside in a blooming garden somewhere but then… no. The soft material he could suddenly feel his body resting on was definitely a mattress, so he deduced he must be lying on some bed. The heavy scented air had to be coming from the open windows then.

Damon tried to open his eyes but realized that he couldn't. He didn't know how. He willed his eyelids to move but nothing happened. It was the same with his arms and legs. None of his muscles obeyed him.

Damon knew that if he'd been able to move his brows would by now be set in a confused frown. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he move? Why couldn't he lift a single finger, let alone his head or open his eyes?

Had he somehow gotten paralyzed? How? When? And… by the way, wasn't it entirely impossible for a vampire to get paralyzed?

Had he perhaps been dosed with vervain? But if so, shouldn't he have felt the lethal herb curse through his body and cause at least some pain?

Damon strained his thoughts and probed around in his head (obviously the only thing he **could** do at the moment). Apart from the apparent immobility he felt fine. No pain, no thirst or hunger… in fact he felt better and more relaxed than ever before.

Huh, strange.

Once again Damon tried to open his eyes but nothing happened. The darkness was slowly beginning to freak him out, to suffocate him (and just what a pathetic excuse for a vampire was **that** making him?) and he quickly focused his thoughts on something else. He tried to remember… anything.

What had he done last, where had he been…?

A vivid image of kissing Elena on the front porch of her house suddenly rushed through his head. Damon would have smiled if he'd been able to twist his lips at all. But the smile would have quickly faded again anyway because other events of that day, Founder's Day, came back to him as well.

The fire… the foreign feeling of utter helplessness when he'd been forced to watch John put a stake through Anna's chest… his talk with Jeremy…

None of that now explained his current situation, did it?

Damon once again took stock of what little he knew. He was lying in bed, obviously clad in a T-shirt and boxer-briefs (he wasn't completely sure about the type of underwear but he could feel some kind of fabric on his body and since he usually went with boxer-briefs…).

The air around him was warm and heavy-scented, so it had to be summer. Damon could hear birds chirping outside the window (he realized all of a sudden that his ears were obviously intact as well) and there were also several muffled voices floating in from outside.

He couldn't make out exact words or even determine whether he recognized who the voices belonged to because the sounds were overridden by a strange and very close-by humming.

"Brrrummm, brrrummm..."

It was coming from somewhere by his feet and sounded to Damon like someone was trying to imitate a car or something. Damon realized with a start that there had to be someone, a human, on the bed with him. He could now feel the mattress dip to one side, barely noticeable, as if the person wasn't weighing much. And the occasional shaky movements indicated that he or she, whoever it was, had apparently some trouble sitting still for long.

"Brrrummm, brrrummm," the humming continued and suddenly there was a hand clutching around one of Damon's knees. His other leg was rubbed with something from foot to mid-thigh and back, he could feel… it almost felt like… tiny wheels?

What the hell?

If he could have Damon would have let out a gasp.

It had to be a small toy car that was wheeled up and down his right leg, like he was some sort of rocky road! Someone was using his unmoving body as a playground for a toy car!

Damon felt anger curse through his body but before he had the chance to let it out (not that he could have) a female voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Linus! Linus, where are you?"

The hands on his legs quickly disappeared and the kid (it had to be a kid, right?) scrambled off the bed in a hurry. Footsteps came closer and then a door was opened.

"Linus?" the woman inquired again, stepping into the room and closer to the bed. "What are you doing here? You know you're not supposed to be in here on your own!"

"I'm not on my own," a small voice replied promptly. "Damon's here with me!"

"That doesn't count and you know it!"

What? Damon wanted to scream. Since when didn't he count? Did those two not know what he was? Why weren't they afraid of him? And why were they here in the first place? Who were these people?

The woman had walked up to the bed Damon was lying on and was now busy straightening the sheets. Damon wanted to squad her hands away. No, what he really wanted was to jump off this bed and rip both their throats out!

The woman didn't seem to sense his boiling rage (and how could she when he wasn't even able to lift a finger) but went on: "If your dad finds out you've been playing in here again…"

"He won't," the small boy shot back, "if you don't tell him. Please don't tell him, Leslie. It's our secret. Damon can keep a secret, too."

"Sure he can," the woman, Leslie, sounded as if she was smiling. "Now, come on, Linus. Let's go downstairs."

"I wanna stay here," Linus pouted and scrambled back onto the bed. The mattress bounced up and down and Damon could feel his right arm jiggle with the movement. He had the feeling his head had lolled to the side as well.

"Damon doesn't mind. He likes it when I play with him."

"Really? And how do you know that?" Leslie wanted to know.

"I just know it," Linus shrugged. "He likes me."

'No, I don't!' Damon growled inwardly and desperately tried to open his eyes, to move his hand, to do something to draw attention to the fact that he was awake and aware of them. A brief sliver of light suddenly flashed before his eyes and Damon screwed them shut again on sheer instinct.

"See," Linus continued excitedly. "He blinked. That means yes."

"He… he blinked," Leslie let out a gasp. "He did, I saw it!"

Damon tried to open his eyes again, more cautious this time, and really, the darkness slowly gave way to blurry forms and dots of light.

"Oh my God," Leslie gasped again and bent over to watch him more closely. "Damon?"

Damon forced his eyes to stay open. He felt the bed jolt and then there was suddenly another blurry head bending over his face.

"Damon? Uncle Damon," the boy's voice nearly doubled over in joy. "You're awake!"

Damon focused his eyes on the boy and very gradually the blurry form sharpened and revealed a tousled mop of blond hair on top of a smiling round face covered in freckles. Wide blue-green eyes kept staring straight at him.

Damon opened his mouth, his jaw creaking in protest, but eventually his lips parted and Damon dry-swallowed a few times. Then he tried to form the word he so desperately wanted to say but what came out instead was nothing but a guttural string of gurgles.

"Easy there," he heard the woman say and turned his head towards her again. "Don't try to speak yet, Damon. Okay?"

Damon's brow furrowed but he stopped working his throat for now. Instead his gaze swept past the two figures and he tried to take in his surroundings.

The dark wood on the walls, the bed, the mahagony dresser to his left… this was his room at the boarding house. But who were those people? He'd never seen the woman nor the boy before.

Leslie must have sensed his confusion because she went on:

"You're at home, Damon. I'm Leslie and this is Linus. You don't know us but… ugh…" She broke off, a slightly helpless expression on her face, and then addressed the kid instead.

"Linus, go fetch the others. Your mom and dad and everyone… tell them the good news."

"Okay," the boy readily jumped off the bed and dashed away so quickly that Damon wondered if he had used vampire-speed. He could hear him run down the stairs and outside. But that boy couldn't be a vampire, could he? He couldn't be more than five years old from the looks of it. But how about this woman, whoever she was. Was she a vampire?

He was about to croak the question past his dried throat when Leslie's next words stunned him into shocked silence.

"Elena will be so happy," Leslie send him a genuine smile and sat down on the edge of the bed. She didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of him. "She never gave up on you, you know? She always knew you'd wake up again. Nothing Alaric, Jenna or even Stefan would say could ever make her give up on you. Not for all those years."

'Years?' Damon's eyes budged. Just how long had he been gone?

And why? What the hell had happened to him?

His mind was tumbling over and over, leaving him a confused mess. Thoughts and feelings scrambled around in his head until he couldn't be sure of anything anymore.

And then the floorboards creaked and a pair of hasty feet flew up the stairs.

"Damon?"

Damon let out a gasp at the sound of that voice. Her voice.

The door was pushed open so forcefully that it smashed hard against the wall behind and probably left a dent. Damon didn't care. All he cared about was the girl that flew over to his bed, nearly tripping on the carpet, and came to a screeching halt in front of him.

"Oh my God, Damon!"

Hands grabbed hold of his and squeezed tightly.

"Elena," Damon croaked out, staring at her beautiful face, at the tears leaking out of her big brown doe-eyes and he wanted to reach out his hand and wipe them away. His fingers twitched but he couldn't find the strength to lift his hand off the sheets.

He growled in frustration.

"Damon," Elena choked out once again and fell to her knees. She let go of his hand and threw her arms around his neck instead. Her head came to rest on his chest and she buried her face there, sobbing desperately.

"I knew you'd wake up some day. I knew it. You'd never leave me. Oh Damon," Elena sobbed and laughed at the same time, her hands around his neck nearly suffocating him.

Damon closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. He had a million questions running through his head at once… but the answers could wait. For now he'd simply revel in Elena's presence by his side.

They stayed like that for what could have been hours, neither of them noticing Leslie silently leaving the room and closing the door firmly behind her.

In the hall she encountered Linus bouncing up and down in excitement, his parents standing not far behind and nearly as eager to get in the room as the kid.

But Leslie shooed them off. "Just give them some time, will you?" she smiled. "You can welcome your hero back later."

Damon heard her words through the shut door (vampire-hearing as good as ever) and his confusion grew just another notch.

He, a hero? What the hell had he missed?

* * *

**TBC**

_Confused? Bored? Hooked? Let me know what you think._**  
**


	2. Check Up

_Oh my God, I'm so thrilled at all the reviews and alerts and favorites I got. You guys are amazing. I'm really glad that this random and uncommon idea of mine caught your interest. So far most of you have no idea what happened to Damon and you're dying to find out the truth. You will, but not quite yet. First of all I had to get Elena's reaction to Damon being awake again out of the way. After that explanation time will come, I promise. So, sorry if this chapter seems kind of pointless and sorry if the medical things bore you or if I managed to screw up the medical terms in English but… I kind of like the medical stuff, so you'll have to suffer through it. But in exchange I put some Delena banter in here as well. Hope you like it. Oh, and you shouldn't take this too seriously, somewhere along the way it became more and more ridiculous. I couldn't help it. This story won't be heavy on plot, it's meant to be happy and light and simply fun._

_Oh, and… I couldn't stop myself from stealing a small scene from Stargate SG-1 for this one. I didn't take it word for word; it's more of a homage to the unique Colonel Jack O'Neill humor than anything else… props to anyone who detects it._

_

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_

Chapter Two

**Check-Up**

"_I knew you'd wake up some day. I knew it. You'd never leave me. Oh Damon," Elena sobbed and laughed at the same time, her hands around his neck nearly suffocating him._

_Damon closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. He had a million questions running through his head at once… but the answers could wait. For now he'd simply revel in Elena's presence by his side._

_They stayed like that for what could have been hours, neither of them noticing Leslie silently leaving the room and closing the door firmly behind her._

_In the hall she encountered Linus bouncing up and down in excitement, his parents standing not far behind and nearly as eager to get into the room as the kid._

_But Leslie shooed them off. "Just give them some time, will you?" she smiled. "You can welcome your hero back later."_

_Damon heard her words through the shut door (vampire-hearing as good as ever) and his confusion grew just another notch._

_He, a hero? What the hell had he missed?_

_

* * *

_

Damon's fingers itched. In fact his whole being itched; he wanted to grab Elena and hold her closer to him. Even though the way she was half-draped over his chest with her face buried in the crook of his neck had to be the closest she'd ever come to him before.

But at the same time he wanted to push her off, he wanted to jump off the bed and stretch his rusted body.

Damon could feel his strength returning gradually and the newly awakened muscles twitched and coiled, ready to spring into action again. His nostrils flared when he deeply inhaled the scent emanating from Elena's hair, shampoo and something sweeter, and Damon finally gave in and lifted his hand to card it softly through her hair.

"Elena," he let out, throat still sore and dry. He coughed a little.

Elena's head shot up and she stared at him in panic.

"Oh my God, Damon," she gasped and her eyes flew over his body. "I'm so sorry! Am I crushing you? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt? Can you talk? Can you see me? Are you feeling dizzy? Nauseous? What? Can you tell me?"

"Whoa! Slow down," Damon tried to stop her ramblings.

Elena's hands came up to caress his face and she stroked the hair back from his forehead. "I don't think you have a temperature, you're not hot, but…"

"Oh, that's so not true," Damon took hold of her hands. "You know I'm hot."

The familiar smirk in his voice brought Elena up short. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the face that she'd become more familiar with than anybody else's over the last few years.

She'd memorized all of it to the brim; the sharp angles of his jaw, the delicate curve of his eyebrows with the long dark lashes underneath, his full lips…

But all this time what she'd really wanted to see, what she'd silently prayed for every night, had never been there. Damon's eyes, clear blue and open and aware, with that unique spark in them that used to make her uncomfortable and edgy…

God, how she'd missed his eyes on her!

She wanted nothing more than to stare into their depths forever but she knew she had to focus on the task at hand.

"Damon," she scolded but the smile never left her eyes. "Stop messing around. I need to check you out."

Damon's smirk grew wider. "Anytime, baby!" His voice grew steadier with every word he got out and he also managed to hoist himself up on his elbows without much effort. He scooted up to lean against the headboard. Arms folded behind his head he winked at her.

Elena swatted at his chest lightly. "If you're able to crack jokes like that I guess you're okay. But I'm still gonna check you out… medically!"

"I'm fine, Elena. You don't have to…" Damon broke off when he noticed her reach for something on the bedside table. It looked sharp and pointy. Damon backed away and eyed her suspiciously. "What do you think you're doing? You're not gonna stick that anywhere inside of me!"

"Damon, it's just a thermometer!"

"I'm a vampire, Elena! We don't get fevers!" Damon's eyes flew from the instrument in her hand up to her face.

"Oh, really?" Elena raised an eyebrow at him. "I guess I was just imagining it then when you were burning up all those times, huh? Now don't be a baby, it's not gonna hurt!"

"I bet you say that to all the guys," Damon murmured but let her stick the thermometer into his ear. Two seconds later it beeped and Elena pulled it out again.

"No temperature," she said and put it back onto the table. "Good."

"I told you so," Damon smirked.

"Oh yes, and you're an expert on it, aren't you?" Elena's eyes blazed with a sudden fierceness. "I bet you know everything about magically induced comas that last for more than five years and just won't lift no matter what you try. You know all about getting blood into that stubborn ass of a vampire that seems for all intents and purposes dead to the world he's just saved with his dumb act!"

Damon stared shell-shocked at Elena's furious face. Tears had started to stream down her cheeks again and she angrily wiped them away.

"Elena," he whispered softly and took hold of her hands.

"Let me go, I need to check… I need," she choked and tried to pull her hands free. But Damon held her in a strong grip.

"Elena, look at me," Damon commanded. "I'm fine."

"You don't know that! You're not a doctor, I am! And I have to…"

"I'm fine," he repeated, determined to get through to her. Damon let go of her shaking hands, took hold of her face and forced her chin up to look at him. "I am fine," he emphasized every word.

Their eyes met and finally Elena broke down. A sob escaped her trembling lips and she sagged down onto his chest once more.

"You're fine," Elena's voice was nothing but a choked whisper. All the tension seemed to leave her stressed-out body at once. The feeling of utter helplessness she'd lived with for years, the worry about him, everything just drained away and her limp form shook with sobs. "You really are. Oh Damon, I can't… I'm…"

"Shhht," Damon soothed her. His hands stroked her back and he leaned down to place soft kisses onto her hair. "It's okay. I'm okay, Elena. Everything's gonna be okay now."

"Yes," Elena whispered into the fabric of his shirt. "Everything's okay now."

* * *

Damon would have been happy to stay like this forever, Elena curled up in his arms, her head resting in the crook of his elbow, her breath ghosting over the hairs on his forearm, making them stand on end, and simply watch her sleep for a change.

But eventually his curiosity won out; not to mention his eagerness to get out of the bed he'd apparently spent years in. More than five years she'd said earlier!

It couldn't be, could it?

Damon had trouble wrapping his mind around it. He looked down at Elena again. It couldn't be that five years had passed without him noticing, right? To him she seemed exactly like the last time he'd seen her!

Damon needed to get out of the bed, now. He needed to find answers damn it! He lifted Elena off his chest, careful so as not to rouse her, and placed her oblivious form beside him. Then he shifted to the edge and swung his feet to the ground.

With one last look back at her Damon stood up – and crashed face-first to the ground when his weak legs gave out under him.

"Shit!"

Elena bolted upright in bed. "Damon?"

Her eyes flew around and found him crumbled on the floor. She gasped and was by his side in a heartbeat. If he didn't know any better Damon would have thought she'd moved with vampire-speed.

"Damon," Elena gasped and knelt down next to him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Getting reacquainted with the floor, obviously." He rolled onto his back and stared up at her.

That's when he really noticed her looks for the first time.

Damon's eyes narrowed and he sat up, cocking his head to the side. "What happened… to your hair?"

"I, excuse me?" Elena stemmed her fists into her sides. "Five years in a coma and the first thing you wanna know is what happened to my hair?"

"I…" Damon knew it was ridiculous. There were a million questions on the tip of his tongue, each of them more pressing than the obvious difference in Elena's looks. Still, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. "Yes, what happened to your hair?"

"I had it cut, that's what happened," Elena snapped, annoyed that he wouldn't let it go.

Damon rolled his eyes as if to say 'duh'. He looked at the brown tresses that framed her beautiful face in different lengths before they ended right on her shoulders but didn't go beyond like he remembered, he took in the golden highlights and decided there and then that he liked it. The new look gave Elena an air of womanhood that she hadn't possessed before. He remembered the girl but now he was staring into the face of a woman. A decidedly pissed-off woman, that is.

Damon shrugged and tried to get up from the ground. Elena watched him struggle for a second or two before she let out a sigh, got up and walked around to stand behind him. Her arms came around his chest and with a strength he hadn't known she possessed Elena pulled him up and dumped him back onto the bed.

"Now you stay there, mister, or else…"

"Or else what?" Damon couldn't help but smirk suggestively. He sat back against the headboard and crossed his feet at the ankles. His arms crossed behind his head. This now felt much better than the hard floor and for once Damon was content to listen to Elena's advice. Not that he'd tell her that.

Elena bent over him. "I'm not above tying you down, you know?"

"Ooohh, kinky," Damon's eyes gleamed at the prospect.

That earned him a smack on the chest. Damon stayed silent but watched Elena turn around to fuss with some sort of machine that he only noticed now standing next to his bed.

It looked like some sort of hook-up for an i.v. with a blood bag dangling from it, but the cord didn't simply hang down. It disappeared in some kind of plastic case with buttons and numbers on it. There was a small display as well and when Elena punched in some numbers a bright green '175' blinked up on it.

The cord or tube or whatever appeared on the underside of the display again and Damon watched Elena pick it up before she pressed another button.

A soft beeping sound could be heard and then the machine suddenly sprang to life. Damon watched, fascinated, when the blood slowly but steadily crept down the cord and towards the end Elena was holding between her fingers. Soon enough the air in the cord had been replaced by blood and Elena turned towards him again, the fully red cord outstretched in front of her.

"What's that?" Damon finally asked.

Elena sat down on the edge of the bed. "You're weak…"

"I'm not weak!" Damon groused.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Says the vampire that just kissed the floor because his knees gave out." She took a deep breath and continued: "You need to feed, Damon. It's been twelve hours since your last dose, so…"

Damon's eyebrows shot up in confusion. "My last **dose**? What do you mean? How did you… is that some kind of drinking automat? Are you gonna stuff that down my throat or do you expect me to simply suck it?" He warily eyed the end of the cord Elena was holding.

The corners of Elena's mouth twitched and she had to hold back the reply that sprang to the tip of her tongue. Damon surely hadn't realized the double meaning in his last comment. Under different circumstances Elena would have called him on it, she would have had no qualms asking just how experienced he was with things stuffed down his throat and sucking them…

But not now.

So Elena simply cleared her throat and explained patiently: "That's not how it works. This is an automated PEG pump. Do you know what a PEG is?"

Damon lifted an eyebrow. "A Perpetually Easy Girl? I wouldn't mind one of those."

"Mind out of the gutter, Damon, now," Elena advised sternly. "A PEG is a Percutanic Endoscopic Gastrostomy. It's a medical device, a method to provide constant nourishment to people who can't swallow food, unconscious people, those in a coma and such." Elena noticed Damon's frown and send him a soft smile. "Here, I'll show you."

The cord in one hand Elena placed the other on Damon's abdomen and started pulling his shirt up. Damon watched her small hand, he felt heat creep into his body from her soft touch, but the lewd comment died on his lips as soon as she'd pulled the fabric high enough for him to take a look at his stomach.

"What the hell is that?"

Damon stared in shock at the small translucent elastic tube protruding from a button right above his navel.

"Calm down," Elena put a hand onto his bare stomach and Damon inhaled sharply. "It doesn't hurt, does it? That's what I meant. It's your end of the PEG. This goes there, see," she pulled off the plugs from the ends of both cords and connected them with sure hands. Damon could only stare on in shock. Elena briefly turned back to the machine, pressed yet another button and suddenly the cord coming from his belly was slowly filled up with blood.

Damon watched the red liquid travel up until it vanished inside of him. He waited for some sort of sensation, pain or at least a queasiness of some sort, but when nothing happened his eyes eventually drifted up to stare at Elena.

"See," she smiled back at him, "there you go. It's easy like that."

Damon needed a few moments to find his voice. "Okay, I've seen what it does. Now shut it off again."

"What? No, Damon. You need to…"

"Shut it off, Elena!" Damon growled. His eyes suddenly darkened visibly and before Elena knew what was happening he'd closed his hand firmly around the cord and pulled with all the strength he could muster.

"No," Elena cried and tried to stop him.

Damon swatted her hands away. "Arrrgh!" he growled and, one hand flat on his stomach, he ripped the cord from his body.

Flesh tore with a sickening noise and then there was blood everywhere.

"Are you insane?" Elena cried and stared at the hole in Damon's stomach. Her hands came up to stop the blood from seeping out but before she'd even pressed them down she realized that the wound had already closed itself again.

The elastic cord dangled from Damon's fingers and he threw it away with a grunt. "Thank God!"

Elena raised her hand and slapped him across the cheek. "Are you insane, Damon? You could have…"

Before she had finished the sentence the door suddenly burst open and several people spilled into the room, nearly tripping over each other in their haste to get inside.

"What's wrong?" they all cried in unison.

Elena turned her back on Damon and stared at them instead. Damon's gaze followed hers. His eyes swept from the foreign woman he'd seen before (Leslie, wasn't it?), to the other three adults he saw gaping at him now.

Elena's brother Jeremy didn't look much different as he stared down at Damon open-mouthed and ready to attack. Okay, he seemed older, more mature, but other than that… he was still the same pale-faced, hot-tempered boy Damon remembered.

Rick… well, his hair was a bit longer and he'd grown a beard. Other than that… same old history teacher ready and more than willing to kick whatever vampire ass was there to kick.

Damon's eyes went over to Jenna. She'd changed quite a bit, he noticed immediately. Her hair was shorter and it had the same highlights Elena had put in hers. She wore light make-up that complimented her and brought out her shining blue-green eyes. But the special glow Damon detected in them could just as well be coming from the fact that she was highly pregnant. Her swollen stomach looked as if it would burst any moment.

Damon thought she'd never looked more stunning.

Being done with his inspection of them all Damon's lips curled and he shot them his trademark smirk. "Hel-lo there, nice to see you all." He raised an eyebrow. "Care to tell me what you're all doing here?"

"We, we heard Elena scream and thought…" Jenna broke off and looked at Rick for support.

"We thought… we wanted to check up on you," Rick finished and scrunched up his face as if to say 'God knows why though, it's not like we care about you'.

Damon's smirk grew. "That's so nice of you. But… why are you here in the first place? Last time I checked this was my house."

All eyes fell onto Elena then. "You, you didn't tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

"I," Elena threw a quick sheepish look at Damon before her eyes traveled to her family once again. "I didn't get that far yet. We haven't gotten past the opening credits. I guess the whole plot is still to come."

"Elena?" Damon sat up straight and placed a hand under her chin to turn her head his way. "What's that mean? What didn't you tell me?"

Elena let out a long sigh. She motioned for the others to get out again and when the door finally closed behind them she turned her attention to Damon again.

"Ugh, Damon," she fidgeted with her hands in her lap until Damon stopped her by taking them into his. "There's no easy way to tell you but…"

"But?" Damon growled impatiently. Whatever it was that she had to tell him, he knew he wouldn't like it.

"Well, the thing is… the boarding house… it's no longer yours. It's Rick's."

Now it was out. Elena took a deep breath and avoided Damon's eyes. That is, until she heard the first sounds of…

Laughter?

"Damon?" Elena stared at the vampire's face in shock. She'd never before heard him laugh so open and carefree. She'd seen him smirk, make fun of everyone around, had heard him chuckle, yes. But full-blown belly-deep laughter?

Never.

"Damon," Elena stared at him in stunned shock and realized with a start how much more gorgeous it made him look.

Tears steamed down his face, his eyes crinkled at the sides, and his mouth was twisted and left his cheeks and chin in the cutest dimples she'd ever seen.

Elena started laughing as well, she couldn't help it, although she had no idea what Damon was so utterly in joy over. But she didn't care. All she cared about for the moment was that he was awake and well and that she had him back.

Elena vowed to herself there and then that she'd never let him go again. And she also vowed that she'd make him laugh like this more often.

No matter what it would take.

* * *

**TBC**

_I know, I know... still no explanation for what the hell happened to Damon. But it will come soon, I promise._**  
**


	3. Setting Things Up

_My schedule has been blown to pieces because I have to go to work later today. That sucks. I wanted to spend my whole day writing (and finishing) this story. But I managed to get at least this part out for you. I know you're all still dying to know what happened to Damon and I can't help being really apprehensive about how you'll take this. See, the thing is… when I started writing this, it wasn't important to me why Damon fell into a coma at all. I wanted to concentrate on the changes in his life after he woke up again. But then I realized that you deserve a really good reason for it all (and you'll get it, though again not yet). The thing is, it's all clear in my head but somehow I don't seem to get Elena and Damon to the point where they start talking about it. I hope you're not too disappointed with this chapter, once again it's rather pointless._

_Oh, and I have to say, I'm really stunned that none of you asked about Stefan's whereabouts yet. I know that I put it up in the summary, he and Elena are over but… Damon doesn't know that, does he? Neither do you know the reason for it. Not that we Delena-shippers need a reason for Stefan to be out of the picture… I was just wondering if you wanna know what happened to him at all._

_

* * *

_

Chapter Three

**Setting Things Up**

"_Ugh, Damon," she fidgeted with her hands in her lap until Damon stopped her by taking them into his. "There's no easy way to tell you but…"_

"But?" Damon growled impatiently. Whatever it was that she had to tell him, he knew he wouldn't like it.

"_Well, the thing is… the boarding house… it's no longer yours. It's Rick's."_

_Now it was out. Elena took a deep breath and avoided Damon's eyes. That is, until she heard the first sounds of…_

_Laughter?_

"_Damon?" Elena stared at the vampire's face in shock. She'd never before heard him laugh so open and carefree. She'd seen him smirk, make fun of everyone around, had heard him chuckle, yes. But full-blown belly-deep laughter?_

_Never._

"_Damon," Elena stared at him in stunned shock and realized with a start how much more gorgeous it made him look._

_Tears steamed down his face, his eyes crinkled at the sides, and his mouth was twisted and left his cheeks and chin in the cutest dimples she'd ever seen._

_Elena started laughing as well, although she had no idea what Damon was so utterly in joy over. But she didn't care. All she cared about for the moment was that he was awake and well and she had him back._

_

* * *

_

Damon's laughter died as quickly as it had come. He sank back against the headboard of his bed and lifted one hand to wipe away the tears that had leaked out of his eyes.

It wasn't that funny if you really thought about it, was it?

No, this whole situation wasn't funny at all.

Damon felt like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he was just so confused. Everything was tumbling around in his head, he didn't know how to stop the millions of thoughts and feelings from rushing around. It was all too much.

He'd tried to hold it together for as long as he had solely for Elena's sake. He didn't want to scare off the one person that made sense to him at the moment. But he also knew that if he didn't get answers soon… he'd snap.

And he didn't want Elena anywhere near him when that happened.

So Damon knew, it was either getting answers from Elena or getting out of here.

Damon looked down to where his right hand still engulfed Elena's smaller one. They fit together rather perfectly, didn't they? His thumb rested on her left wrist and was stroking the soft skin in small circles. It sent tingles up his arm and put his whole body on fire… and Damon knew for certain that he'd have to do with option number one. There was no chance in hell that he'd leave this girl, woman, that had already started to mean the world to him before…

Before everything had happened (whatever that was). He knew he'd fallen for her, hard and with no chance of un-falling again any time soon, if ever. Elena had become a constant presence in his thoughts, in his life, ever since they'd opened the tomb and he'd learned of Katherine's betrayal. Her lies, her playing with him.

Elena had slowly but steadily wormed her way into the one place he'd thought would never matter again. His heart.

They'd gone from enemies to friends and then to something else in the matter of weeks until eventually, on Founder's Day, Damon had found it in him to tell her, to show her, just how much she'd changed his life. His very being.

And Elena must have felt something for him as well because… she'd kissed him back then, hadn't she?

And although Damon couldn't remember anything that had happened after that day, as much as he wracked his head over it, something more must have happened between them because… Damon looked up briefly… because here she was now, by his side, holding his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.

More than five years had passed and Elena had apparently been there for him the whole time. She'd stayed by his side, had cared for him, had taken care of his unconscious self… more than five years. With no hope of him ever waking up again… why had she done it?

Why hadn't he been tossed aside yet? Why hadn't she let him starve?

Damon remembered the horrible machine that he'd ripped from his stomach earlier (what had she called it? A PEG?) and couldn't imagine the trouble Elena must have gone through to make sure he was well cared for all this time. What else had she done for him?

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Damon hadn't realized that he'd spoken his thoughts out loud. He looked up and found Elena gently smiling at him.

It floored him all over again and Damon had to look away.

"You mean the house?" Elena squeezed his hand and continued: "I'm sorry about that but… It was the easiest way. With you, you know, out, and Stefan… well, he's still seventeen to the rest of the world, so he wouldn't have been able to hold it for long. And Rick and Jenna were about to get married and… Rick opted to buy it, so… he did, you know? But now that you're back, we'll figure something out; Damon, I promise."

Damon flinched. There was something so patronizing in the tone of her voice…

"I'm not talking about the house, Elena," Damon's voice was sharp and he could feel Elena cringe immediately. He took a deep breath and willed his mask of cool sarcasm to the front. It was better than to lash out at her, right? "Let the teacher have it, what do I care? Doesn't mean anything to me."

"This is your home, Damon," Elena replied softly.

'You're my home, Elena,' Damon bit his tongue to stop the thought from tumbling out. God, it seemed that five years in a coma had turned him into a lovesick puppy. Or into St. Stefan…

"Speaking of," Damon went on when the thought suddenly occurred to him. "Where's my brooding brother? I didn't see him anywhere in the welcoming party. And I can't help but feel decidedly neglected."

"Stefan?" Elena's smile widened but Damon realized at once that it wasn't the smile of someone thinking of their significant other. Interesting. "Oh, he's… somewhere in Europe. Germany I think it was, the last time I heard from him."

Damon merely raised an eyebrow.

"We're not… ugh. He's keeping in touch, calling every other week, or I do, but…" Elena shrugged lightly. "I'll call him later though, let him know the good news. I'm sure he'll come back."

"Please, not on my account," Damon smirked. "Let him stay where he is and raid the German woods of all animals. I hear the Black Forest has great deer, not the mention bunnies."

Elena let out a snort. God, she'd really missed this. Damon's way of making fun of Stefan. Nevertheless she tried to put a frown onto her face. "He's your brother, Damon. He'll come back as soon as he knows you're awake."

"Then we better not tell him, I'd say," Damon smirked. "I figure he can't be too pleased with the way things turned out."

"Huh? Why'd you say that? Stefan cares about you, you know that."

"Sure," Damon raised an eyebrow. "And I bet he just stepped aside with a nice formal bow and wished you all the best when he found out about us, huh?"

"Us?" Elena pulled her hand away and sat up straight. "What are you talking about, Damon?"

Damon felt the loss of her touch immediately. "Oh, you mean," he smirked, "you never told him about that night? On Founder's Day? About our kiss?"

Elena blanched visibly. Damon watched her swallow a few times and he wondered if… but, she'd kissed him back, hadn't she? Surely they had…

"Damon," Elena stared at him, clearly struggling to find the right words. "Is that the last thing you remember before…?"

He nodded, unable to do anything else.

"Oh God," Elena choked and shook her head. "I'm sorry Damon but… that night… that kiss, it wasn't me." Her voice was soft and gentle and yet the words ripped through Damon like a whiplash over his back.

"It was Katherine."

* * *

Jenna was fumbling around in the kitchen, stretching onto her tiptoes and trying to reach the iron pan on the top shelf (not an easy task with a stomach about as big as a whale), when the door opened and her little sunshine dashed inside, red-faced and completely out of breathe.

"Mommy," Linus pouted adorably, "can I go now? Please, I wanna…"

"Honey, you heard what your daddy said the first three times. Do I have to repeat it again?" Jenna tried to make her voice sound as stern as possible. "You are not to bug Damon today."

"But I just wanna…"

"No!" Jenna turned towards her son and waved a spoon in front of him. "Damon just woke up, honey. He is confused and it's a lot to take in for him. He needs calm and Elena just now. He doesn't need you to pester him with your thousands of questions. I bet he has enough on his mind as it is. You'd only confuse him more."

Linus' lower lip jutted out and Jenna had trouble holding back her smile. He looked so much like Alaric just now… or, all the times, really. She could clearly imagine what her husband must have looked like when he'd been Linus' age. Though she doubted Rick had been as clever and witty as this four-year-old now.

Not that she thought Rick hadn't been a clever kid, by no means! It's just… Linus was an extraordinary child, considering the circumstances he'd been brought up to…

Really, how many kids grew up with a vampire in a coma hidden away in some part of their house? A vampire they were not allowed to mention to anyone but immediate family?

Sometimes Jenna had wondered if they were putting too much pressure on the small boy. But then… Linus had been handling the uncommon situation perfectly well. As far as any of them knew he'd never told anyone about Damon, not even his closest friends from kindergarten.

For a four-year-old… he was doing great.

And Jenna could truly understand her son's eagerness, the pressing need to run upstairs and finally, finally meet Damon for real. Talk to him, get to know him… Damon was his godfather after all. Not that Damon knew that, and of course it had never been made official because, duh, vampire. Still…

Linus knew, and so ever since he'd learned to walk and talk the kid had wanted nothing more than to be with Damon.

Jenna could understand. And so she tried to be patient with Linus now. He'd stopped bouncing up and down but stood there, head hung in defeat and lips trembling, on the verge of tears.

Jenna put away the spoon and crouched down. "Come here, sweetie." She pulled the boy into her arms and kissed his blond hair. "I know that it's hard. You want to meet Damon, I do too. But we have to give him some time, he's been really sick and Elena needs to tell him things first. Tomorrow, or maybe later tonight, we'll go to him and you can show him the pictures you've been drawing for him, okay?"

"Okay," Linus sniffed into her shoulder before he leaned back again and asked, a worried expression on his face: "Do you think he'll play with my toy cars with me?"

"Of course he will," Jenna stated seriously. Though she couldn't for the life of it picture Damon Salvatore play race with her son's toy cars (at least not the Damon Salvatore she remembered)… she'd make sure that he would. He owed them that much at least.

"Don't forget, Linus," Jenna smiled and stood up. "No matter what Damon is now, he was once a boy just like you. And all boys like to play with cars, right? I mean, take your dad for example."

Linus face lit up as if a light bulb had been switched on inside. "Ooohh, we're gonna play accident, the three of us. Damon and dad are gonna race and crash their cars and I'm gonna be Officer Salzman and put them in jail for wracking their cars and fighting!"

With that Linus ran off towards the playroom, eager to set things up. Jenna watched him go with a fond smile.

Whether Damon would be up for playing race or not, she was suddenly sure he could be roped into it. If nothing else, the prospect of fighting her husband should do the trick.

The Damon Salvatore she remembered wouldn't let the opportunity to beat Rick go to waste, ever. If only by means of small toy cars.

* * *

**TBC**

_Don't sue me or kill me, I don't know why I can't get Elena and Damon to finally talk about what happened to him. But now it's all set up and the explanation will come in the next part, promise. And I had to include a little bit of Jenna/Linus interaction to show how the others feel about Damon's return. Hope you like it as much as I do._


	4. Building Up To The Truth

_Hi, finally I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update, I got distracted by the new season as well as real life. But, the good news… I've decided to make this story longer than the three or four chapters I'd intended at first, so… no worries, we're not at the end yet._

_ You'll finally get to know what happened to Damon. Sorry if it disappoints, it's all I could come up with. It's just a side-story after all, my main focus lies on Damon's here and now and how he will resume his life now. Although this chapter is all about the past. Some parts of it I let Elena tell but the essential bit I put into a flashback. I wanted to include Damon's POV and that's impossible if I'd have let Elena recap the events. Hence the flashback. I hope you like it. It turned out way longer than I thought it would (and it also holds some slightly disturbing images of blood, that's why I upped the rating to M. So if you're squeamish, consider yourself warned). I decided to break the revealing flashback in two parts. You'll get the second half of the flashback in the next chapter. Sorry in advance for leaving you with an evil cliffhanger._

_Thank you for all your kind words in your reviews and all the alerts and stuff. It's really amazing to write for you all._

_Oh, and this chapter deals with some SEASON TWO stuff and now that we've seen it on TV my version of what happened on Founder's Day and afterwards is different. So technically it's AU. Hope you don't mind, I thought of this before Season 2 started._

_

* * *

_

Chapter Four

**Building Up To The Truth**

"_Oh, you mean," Damon smirked, "you never told him about that night? On Founder's Day? About our kiss?"_

_Elena blanched visibly. Damon watched her swallow a few times and wondered if… but, she'd kissed him back, hadn't she? Surely they had…_

"_Damon," Elena stared at him, clearly struggling to find the right words. "Is that the last thing you remember before…?"_

_He nodded, unable to do anything else._

"_Oh God," Elena choked and shook her head. "I'm sorry Damon but… that night… that kiss, it wasn't me." Her voice was soft and gentle and yet the words ripped through Damon like a whiplash over his back._

"_It was Katherine."_

_

* * *

_

Damon had heard Elena's words loud and clear. And yet he couldn't understand. What did she mean, it was Katherine? It couldn't be. He'd have known if it had been Katherine that he'd kissed, right?

Elena watched Damon's shocked face in silence, not sure what a reaction to expect from him. God, did he really not remember anything after Founder's Day? Would she really have to tell him about those two weeks that had followed? It had been two of the most terrible weeks of her whole life!

And she remembered Damon had been even worse off back then. He'd been hurt and so angry, like Katherine had broken his heart just a little bit more than she'd already done. And not just Katherine. Elena had done a great deal of heartbreaking herself back then, hadn't she?

And now… it seemed like Elena had no choice but to make Damon go through it again. If she'd be forced to tell him… she was sure that Damon would end up hurt and broken all over again, and it would be her fault.

Just like it had been back then.

She'd done this, it had been her fault.

Elena shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked at Damon once again. He sat there, motionless and shell-shocked, and Elena cautiously took his hand.

"Damon, I'm so sorry," she breathed out and tried to convey the feelings with her eyes as well.

Damon gulped forcefully and then… it was as if a jolt went through him and his eyes closed off from everything. Just like that. He cocked his head to the side.

"What happened?"

"Damon, I…"

"What. Happened," he bit off the words and gave her an intense stare. Elena knew that if it wouldn't be for the vervain in her necklace (she still wore the one Stefan had given her), Damon would have managed to compel her to answer. She lowered her eyes and let out a sigh. Sooner or later she'd have to start talking, right?

"Okay," Elena sighed again. "Katherine showed up at my house on Founder's Day and… she killed Uncle John. When I came home that night, shortly after you'd… you'd met her on the porch, not me…"

Damon's eyes hardened just a tad more. He remembered that night as if it had been yesterday… well, to him it actually had been. He remembered the feelings he'd tried to convey to 'Elena' back then while thanking her for saving him. He'd wanted to tell her the whole truth.

But if what Elena said was true then Damon had spilled his heart to Katherine instead!

That bitch!

He couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever come around to tell the real Elena…

But he couldn't linger on that now because she was talking again and Damon had to hang on to every word.

"I went inside and I found John's dead body in the kitchen. And then Katherine was suddenly there with me. She told me that she had great plans for you and Stefan and all of Mystic Fall's and that she would take back what was rightfully hers… and then you suddenly stormed in and she disappeared into the night. You had been still close by and you'd heard me scream, that's why you were there so quickly." Elena looked up briefly. "I didn't know about the… ugh, about what had happened on the porch earlier, you didn't tell me until a few days later."

Damon shook his head as if he was trying, and failing, to remember any of this. He silently pleaded for Elena to go on and she did.

"For the next two weeks Katherine wrecked havoc in Mystic Falls, she killed a lot of people and all the time she walked around pretending to be me. She messed with everybody's head, Damon. It was awful. You were so angry all the time, so hurt. Katherine told you…"

"Told me what?" Damon's voice was nothing but a growl.

"She told you that she'd never truly loved you, that it had all been a game to her and that she'd wanted… she'd wanted Stefan all the time, not you. Never you."

Elena took a deep breath and waited for Damon's reaction. But apart from the frown line between his cold eyes deepening Damon remained calm. Cut off.

Elena didn't know whether she should be relieved or worried by his lack of emotional outbreak. She quickly went on speaking, eager to get it over with: "You were in so much pain back then, Damon. I could see it and I wanted to help you but… you wouldn't let me. You shut me out and I felt so helpless and… it was worse than…"

She broke off, unable to go on for the thick lump that had formed in her throat. Silence settled around them. Damon's head was reeling from it all and he was holding on to his calm only by a threat. He wanted to grab Elena and shake the truth out of her, he needed to know…

But one look at her face and the pain edged all over it, pain she was feeling for him, because of him, calmed the storm of emotions he was holding back with the switch and he was able to take a breathe and let the tension drain away.

"So the bitch came back to play her little games, huh? Maybe I should feel lucky that I can't remember any of it. Can't imagine it to have been a picnic."

Elena choked out a strangled laughter. "No, no it wasn't. Everybody was on edge, especially around me. You were all suspicious of me, thinking I might be her in disguise. And even the people that didn't know about Katherine… they started to act weird around me because she'd been messing with them. Caroline and Matt, Jenna… Everything was falling apart. And Stefan…"

"What about him?" Damon's voice had an edge to it Elena had never heard before. Cold, detached, but at the same time laced with an urge…

She quickly went on: "Stefan and I, we… I don't know, a rift was beginning to form between us. He started acting weird around me, and at first I thought it was because he was afraid I might be Katherine. He was deeply affected by the fact that he'd been fooled twice by Katherine pretending to be me while you'd seen right through her façade…"

Damon looked up sharply and Elena relented: "I mean after that first time when you didn't know yet that she was back. She approached you – as me – a few times but you always knew the difference right away. She never managed to fool you again. Stefan on the other hand… well, even after he knew she was in town Katherine managed to screw with his head. Screw with him."

A bitter edge had seeped into Elena's voice and Damon suddenly knew that she'd meant the last part quite literally. Stefan had obviously slept with Katherine, mistaking her for Elena, and he could only assume how much that must have hurt Elena. No wonder the happy couple hadn't lasted for long after that.

Almost afraid to ask but having to know the truth nonetheless Damon eventually ground out: "What happened to her? Did she…?"

"Katherine's dead, Damon." Elena paused to gauge his reaction. When she saw the hard glint in Damon's eyes she continued: "For real this time. You made sure of that."

"I…?"

"Yes," Elena gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "You killed her."

* * *

Jenna looked up from the charred contents of the frying pan when she heard voices drifting towards her through the open backdoor.

A moment later Jeremy entered the kitchen, followed closely by Rick.

"I'm gonna ask Leslie what she thinks about… you know, Rick, okay?" Jeremy nodded in the direction of his aunt and disappeared in the halls. "See you later."

Jenna was about to ask what he'd meant when she felt her husband put his strong arms around her from behind. He leaned in and let his chin rest on her shoulder.

"Hhmm, that smells…" Rick took a deep breath through his nose and managed not to flinch too much. "Wonderful."

"Liar," Jenna laughed and lifted the pan from the flames to place it in the sink. Then she turned around in Rick's arms. "It smells like burnt meat and you know it."

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Usually Jenna was a decent cook and she hadn't burned anything in years. So Rick assumed something must have distracted her from preparing dinner and, given the high state of her pregnancy, he was naturally worried immediately.

"I'm fine," Jenna assured him with a quick kiss. "It's your son's fault that we won't get any dinner tonight."

"**My** son?" Rick raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean **our** son?"

"Oh no," Jenna shook her head. "He's definitely **your** son when it comes to mischief and being an uncontrollable whirlwind. There's no way he got that from me."

"What did the little monster do this time?" Rick looked around the kitchen. "And where is he?"

"Relax, he's in the play room. And, you know, it wasn't that bad. He's just… well, he can't wait to meet Damon and he's been constantly bugging me with wanting to go upstairs already."

"I'll go talk to him," Rick let go of Jenna's body and turned towards the door.

"Don't be too hard on him, Rick." Jenna called after her husband. "You can't blame him for wanting to meet his godfather, can you? After all," she added more to herself, "I'm more than ready to bust down the door and see for myself that Damon's really back. I still can't believe it."

Rick walked back towards his wife and pulled her into his arms. "I know how you feel, sweetheart. It's hard to believe that he just woke up like that, after all these years…"

"Yeah," Jenna nodded with a smile. "Elena proved us all wrong. She never gave up hope."

"She's stubborn like that," Rick shrugged and then leaned down to capture Jenna's lips in a quick kiss. Then he released her and made his way over to the door again. "I'm gonna go talk to Linus now, okay? Call out if anything… if you need me."

"Sure," Jenna rolled her eyes at his protectiveness. "Now, off with you. Distract Linus for a bit. But, Rick?"

Rick stopped in the doorway and turned back. "Yeah?"

"I promised him he could see Damon later tonight or at least tomorrow. Don't crush his hopes, okay?"

"Jenna, we have no idea how Damon's gonna react to everything and…" he tried to play it light but Jenna had no problem hearing the serious undertone in his voice. "I'd rather keep Linus away from Damon until we know that it's safe."

"Damon wouldn't hurt him, Rick," Jenna assured her husband at once. "He wouldn't."

Rick said nothing but Jenna could see that he wasn't as convinced as she was. She knew he was hoping it was the truth but, Rick being Rick, Jenna knew that her husband wouldn't take any risks. Not with Linus. Not with anybody in this house.

And that was one of the reasons why she loved him so much.

* * *

"You killed her."

The minutes had ticked by with neither of them breaking the tense silence that followed Elena's statement. But eventually Damon spoke after taking a deep breath through his nose.

"Tell me everything, Elena."

"Damon," she replied, her voice soft and pleading. "Don't you think…"

"Tell. Me."

Elena let out a sigh and closed her eyes. She'd have to give Damon the truth eventually, she knew she owed him that much, but… recalling the events that had led to Katherine's death and also to Damon's current state… it hurt.

But at the same time Elena felt a small piece of warmth take hold of her. It started in her stomach and grew; she could feel it travel up her veins till it engulfed her heart.

Finally, after all these years, she would be able to thank Damon for what he'd done. Oh, she'd told him a hundred times already, no day had passed in the last five years that she hadn't sat here at his bedside, his cold hand in hers, and had told him…

But now Damon was awake and he would hear her.

Elena finally had the chance to let him know how much his actions back then had affected her whole life. How much his sacrifice had meant to her.

She could finally tell him how wrong he'd been with the last words he'd uttered before…

Elena took a deep breath and risked a glimpse at Damon's stoic face. "Okay, Damon," she squeezed his hand and then scooted closer to make herself more comfortable on the bed. Damon automatically made room for her on the spacious bed. Elena turned so that her back came to rest on the headboard next to his, their shoulders touching lightly, and him allowing that kind of closeness gave Elena enough courage to finally tell the tale.

"We would never have known about Katherine's plans if it hadn't been for Bonnie. You see, Bonnie had a vision when Katherine touched her one day, and what she saw… well, I don't know exactly what it was but it must have been awful. Bonnie said that almost everyone in Mystic Falls was dead, and those who weren't were slaves to Katherine. Her plan was to somehow bind all citizens to her for life with the help of some spell. And of course she needed Bonnie for that."

Elena took a deep breath and continued: "Katherine kidnapped Bonnie one day and held her hostage. She forced her to prepare and then do the spell. We had no idea where to start looking but then, two weeks after Founder's Day, we got a lucky break. Isobel told us…"

"Isobel?" Damon repeated bewildered. It was the first word he'd uttered in a while.

"Yes," Elena shrugged and a small smile played around her lips. Despite what her birth mother had wanted her to believe, it had become obvious then that there'd been some good, some humanity, in her after all, no matter how small a part that had been.

"Isobel knew of Katherine's plans and she told us where Bonnie was held." Elena waited a second before she revealed: "The tomb underneath old Fell's Church."

"The tomb? Why there?" Damon couldn't believe it to be simple coincidence.

"I have no idea," Elena shrugged again. "But that's where we went to free Bonnie and kill Katherine once and for all."

"We?" Damon raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me Stefan and I were stupid enough to let you come!"

Elena's lips twisted upwards. "I remember, you were all for leaving me behind, Damon. You'd even have gone so far as to chain me up somewhere or lock me into that cell downstairs. You threatened to do it…"

"Of course I did," Damon smirked.

"But in the end you really had no choice as to take me with you. See, we were kind of short on people who could have gone with. Rick was still in the hospital at the time, recovering from one of Katherine's attacks a few days prior. So was Jeremy, not that I'd have allowed him anywhere near the tomb, mind you. And Bonnie had been taken, so that left only Isobel, you, me and Stefan. We took Rick's entire arsenal with us and made our way into the woods."

* * *

_**Flashback**_

Night had fallen over the woods around Mystic Falls and the old church's ruins were wrapped in nearly impenetrable darkness. It was broken only by four small torches that gleamed in the hands of the four people standing in a row at the edge of the small hole beneath their feet.

"I don't like this," Damon ground out, eyes flickering around before they settled on the entrance of the tomb again. "It's too quiet."

Elena looked at his sharp-edged features illuminated by the soft orange glow of the torches. He looked tense and she couldn't blame him at all.

They all knew this was a trap somehow. Katherine wanted them here for some reason. Damon had pointed it out earlier in his typical snarky way and Stefan and Isobel had agreed.

Even Elena couldn't deny the fact that this felt like nothing but a trap.

But it didn't matter. Bonnie was down there, held by Katherine, and so that's where they'd be going. Despite recent events, despite their obvious differences, Elena still considered Bonnie her best friend and she couldn't let anything happen to her.

"I don't like this," Damon repeated and shared a quick look with Stefan. Then he shrugged it off and, with an ease only a supernatural being could possess, jumped down into the hole. Isobel followed without a word.

Elena felt Stefan's hand close around hers and she looked up to him. "You don't have to go, Elena," he tried one last time to get her to leave.

"Stefan, we've been over this. She's my friend." Elena wanted to say more but Damon's voice from beneath them, hollow and dark, cut her off.

"You coming? Brother? You don't want to miss all the fun, do you?"

Elena and Stefan shared a look and then, before she realized what was happening, Elena was pulled into Stefan's arms and she felt her feet leave the ground.

Seconds later they touched the stony ground of the tomb's antechamber. The symbol Bonnie and her Grams had drawn into it all those months ago gleamed in the torch's soft glow. Elena looked around and found Damon poised at the heavy stone door that guarded the entrance to the tomb's inner chambers. It was open.

"Where's Isobel?" Stefan asked and only then did Elena realize that her vampire birth mother was nowhere to be seen.

Damon jerked his head towards the door. "She went inside. Didn't want to wait for you two lovebirds to finish making goggle-eyes at each other I guess. Not that I blame her."

Elena rolled her eyes at him but remained silent. Damon knew very well that she and Stefan hadn't 'made with the goggle-eyes' so much lately. Their relationship had been strained, on shaky grounds at best, after what had happened with Stefan and Katherine.

Elena hadn't been able to overcome her disappointment yet. Stefan had mistaken Katherine for her. He'd not realized that it hadn't been her he'd kissed and caressed and had made love to.

How could he not have realized?

"Do you hear anything, Damon?" Stefan's voice brought Elena back to the present. "I can't."

"Not a peep," Damon shook his head and turned to face the door. "The witch must have done some mojo to cut off all sounds, even from vampire-hearing. Maybe she's learned to cast a bubble…"

"Shut up, Damon!" Elena suddenly had enough of his sarcasm. She was tense and his joking did nothing to ease it. "What do we do now?"

Damon stared at her intensely. "Now we go kill the bitch."

And then he vanished through the door.

Stefan followed immediately and Elena made the silent rear. She held on to Stefan's hand and stumbled after him through the tunnel until he suddenly stopped. She nearly clashed with his broad back. It blocked her from seeing anything and so she whispered urgently: "What is it? Stefan?"

At least that's what Elena was trying to ask. But… no sound had left her lips; no word had reached her ears. She couldn't hear her own voice. Panicked Elena tried again.

"Stefan? Stefan, I can't hear… Stefan!" She tucked at his arm and he turned around eventually.

Gesturing wildly Elena tried to make him understand that she couldn't hear anything. None of them could apparently.

Elena and Stefan stared at each other, trying to communicate through looks alone, until suddenly a small pebble smacked into Stefan's head. It bounced off and fell to the floor without a sound. Stefan turned around and found Damon staring back at him, an impatient look on his face.

'Get over it already,' Damon's expressive eyes seemed to say. 'Come on, we have a witch to rescue and a vampire bitch to kill!'

Not waiting for an answer, not that there would have been any, Damon continued walking down the tunnel, torch held close to his head. Elena and Stefan followed.

The tunnel made a turn to the left and then suddenly opened up into a cave-like chamber. It was the same chamber Damon had weeks ago thrown the spare blood bag against the wall in agony when he'd realized that Katherine wasn't in the tomb. A small stain of dried blood was still visible running down the stonewall.

But neither Damon nor anyone else was giving the bloodstains any notice now. Their eyes were all glued to the middle of the room and the gruesome sight in front of them.

'Oh my god, Bonnie!' Elena gasped in shock, still with no sound whatsoever coming from her lips.

Five torches were stuck in the ground, each marking the point of a pentagram just like the one in the antechamber. Bonnie crouched in the middle of it, or rather lay there, half on her knees, half with her body flat on the ground.

She was covered in her own blood. It spilled freely from several wounds on her naked form, there wasn't the smallest part of unmarred skin visible. Blood was running out of her nose, her ears and even her eyes. She was crying tears of blood.

Bonnie's face was barely recognizable under all the blood and what had once been her lips now resembled nothing but bleeding pieces of flesh.

And they were moving constantly.

Bonnie, despite the pain and agony she must be in, was chanting an unheard spell. Constantly. She couldn't seem to stop.

Elena quickly hid her face in Stefan's chest. The sight was too much.

But she couldn't look away for long. Something tore her eyes back to the sight of her broken and bleeding friend on the ground. Tears started to spill from Elena's eyes and she made two steps forward, completely unaware of doing so, until Stefan grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side. She struggled against his firm grip, she needed to do something, help Bonnie somehow, but Stefan's strong arms encircled her and wouldn't budge.

Over Elena's head Stefan sought out his brother's face.

Shock and grim determination was written all over it and Stefan could read Damon's thoughts as if he'd heard the words actually spoken out loud.

'She's as good as dead.'

'No, we can still save her, Damon. We have to!' Stefan's eyes seemed to plead.

And then, although the deafening silence around them never once broke, both vampires could hear Bonnie's voice loud and clear inside their heads.

'You can't. There's no way to save me. But you can save everybody else.'

Damon and Stefan shared a confused look as if to make sure they'd both heard the witch's attempt to communicate telepathically with them. Then, in complete unison, they stared at Bonnie again.

'How?'

'You have to kill me!'

* * *

**TBC**

_ I know, I know. You want to kill me right now, don't you? For leaving you with the most evil cliffhanger possible. But the rest of the chapter is already written and it won't take me too long to get it ready for posting. It was simply too long to put it all up in one go. Please don't hate me too much, it won't take as long as before for me to update, promise! In the meantime, tell me what you think._


	5. Close Up To The Past

_I bet you're surprised that I updated this quickly, huh? Well, I admit that I am. I didn't think I'd manage it today at all. But here it is, the conclusion of the flashback to what happened five years ago. You'll finally understand how Katherine got killed, how Damon fell into a magical coma and why everyone thinks he's a hero._

_I hope no one will be bothered by the fact that I kind of stole Damon's heroic act from another TV series. Once again I was influenced by something I saw on Stargate SG-1 once. But I used it with all good intentions and complete goodwill in mind._

_Have fun._

_

* * *

_

Chapter Five

**Close Up To The Past**

_Over Elena's head Stefan sought out his brother's face._

_Shock and grim determination was written all over it and Stefan could read Damon's thoughts as if he'd heard the words actually spoken out loud._

'_She's as good as dead.'_

'_No, we can still save her, Damon. We have to!' Stefan's eyes seemed to plead._

_And then, although the deafening silence around them never once broke, both vampires could hear Bonnie's voice loud and clear inside their heads._

'_You can't. There's no way to save me. But you can save everybody else.'_

_Damon and Stefan shared a confused look as if to make sure they'd both heard the witch's attempt to communicate telepathically with them. Then, in complete unison, they stared at Bonnie again._

'_How?'_

'_You have to kill me!'_

_

* * *

_

_**Still Flashback  
**_

'What? No way!' Stefan stared in pure shock at Bonnie's crumpled form on the ground. How could she ask something like that?

'It's the only way to stop this,' Bonnie's voice boomed through both vampires' heads while Elena heard nothing. 'I can't stop myself from completing this spell, Katherine forced me to magically bind myself to it. I can't stop, Stefan! Look at my body, I should be dead already. You know these wounds are lethal. The only thing keeping me alive right now is the spell. And if that's completed I'll be dead. So, no, I can't be saved. And you can't let me finish this spell, you can't!'

'I can't kill you, Bonnie,' Stefan tried to converse his thoughts to the witch. 'Elena, she'd hate me for it, she'd never…'

'Elena will understand once you explain it to her,' Bonnie's voice was adamant.

Stefan shook his head in despair. He didn't notice Elena watching him with a confused frown, nor Damon's sharp glare in his direction. Stefan focused all his energies on making Bonnie understand… there had to be another way somehow.

He couldn't kill Bonnie in front of Elena's very eyes. She'd never forgive him for it, even if she'd know Bonnie had asked him to do it. Elena wouldn't understand, she'd blame him for not even contemplating another option. He couldn't kill her best friend, not when their relationship was already hanging only by a threat thanks to his stupid tryst with Katherine a few nights ago.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't risk losing Elena, no matter how high the stakes.

Stefan's eyes sought out Bonnie's and it seemed she got his meaning because all of a sudden her own eyes, though bloodshed and barely able to focus on anything besides the pain, hardened beyond belief.

'Stefan, you have to do it! The whole town will be doomed if I complete this spell. Stefan, you can't let that happen! You can't!'

'I'm sorry, Bonnie.' Stefan tore his gaze away and looked at Elena instead. He pulled the trembling girl closer into his arms and kissed her head.

'Stefan!' Bonnie's voice in his mind grew desperate. She was nearly done with mentally chanting the spell and if that happened…

'How can you be so selfish, Stefan? How can you just doom all the people in Mystic Fall's to become Katherine's slaves? Just to be with Elena?'

'She'd never forgive me, Bonnie.' Stefan's voice was final.

**"I'd rather doom this town than have Elena hate me for killing you."**

Stefan's last words were audible to everyone all of a sudden because Bonnie with her last ounce of will had lifted the deafening spell.

Elena gasped. It sounded hollow in the big space. Bonnie had collapsed completely. She'd stopped chanting. The spell was complete, or so it seemed.

Elena couldn't believe what had just happened. She broke free of Stefan's grip and took a step back. Her eyes like big black pools of horror bore into him. Her lips moved but no sound came out. Elena was too shocked by what she'd just heard.

"Elena," Stefan tried to explain but the sudden sound of a chuckled laugh had all of them turn to the exit. "Well done, Stefan. Very well done."

Katherine stood there, smiling proudly, one hand on her jeans-clad hip and the other around Isobel's throat. With a flick of her arm she tossed the vampire away. Isobel's body crashed against the stonewall and landed in a twisted heap on the ground.

Only then they noticed the stake that was imbedded deeply in Isobel's chest. She was dead.

Damon, who'd stood stock-still for so long that Elena and Stefan had nearly forgotten he was even there, suddenly made his way over to Bonnie's unmoving form on the ground. All the blood seeping out of her broken body nearly threatened to overwhelm him but he kept control over his vampiric senses and quickly crouched down to check her pulse.

"She's not dead," he wondered and threw a questioning glance up.

"Yet," Katherine smiled cruelly and took a sashaying step forward. Her eyes were glued to Stefan's face. "Step away from her, Damon. I'm not done with her yet. But I think she needs to gather her strength again before we'll start with the final phase of my plan. So, that gives me some time to…"

Katherine broke off when the deafening sound of bones breaking cut through her speech.

All eyes fell onto Damon on the ground. He had his hands around Bonnie's twisted neck, her body hanging limp to the ground.

"Noooo!"

Both Elena and Katherine had cried out at the same time. It was eerie, their voices so similar and yet, the emotions behind the uttered word so completely different. Whereas Elena had shouted out in shocked pain Katherine's voice had sounded like a pouting child whose new toy had just been broken.

"Sorry," Damon shrugged indifferently and stood up. His eyes were fixed on Katherine (for he didn't want to see the pain in Elena's eyes) and he leaned against the stonewall, arms crossed casually in front of him. "Patience is a virtue, they say. Well, guess I'm just not virtuous enough then. Didn't want to wait for the grand finale. I'd rather be done with it and kill you right now."

"Oh, but you can't, Damon," Katherine smirked.

"Can't I?" Damon growled and in a flash rushed up to her. This had been going on for long enough now, he wanted the bitch dead, nothing else. With every intention of killing her Damon was shocked when he was swatted aside before he'd even managed to take hold of her throat. Katherine had tossed him aside and into the wall like a fly.

"No, Damon. You can't. None of you can kill me, not while I'm protected by Bonnie's spell," she smiled mischievously before her voice took on a pouting edge again. "But you ruined my fun, or well, part of it."

The others watched her walk around Damon's crumpled form, listening in silence. "You see," Katherine went on and her eyes traveled to Stefan briefly. "I had planned, well, hoped for Stefan to act as the witch's glorious savior. He was supposed to kill her."

"Why?" Stefan couldn't stop the question from coming out.

"Oh, what do you think? To take her place of course," Katherine answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The spell isn't complete yet, you see. And poor Bonnie's powers should have been transferred to you, not him. But I guess instead of getting who I really want by my side I'll have to content myself with Damon instead. Again. Just like old times, isn't it?"

She spoke with so much obvious disappointment that Elena let out a shocked gasp. Stefan lowered his eyes to the ground, not wanting to see the hurt cross Damon's face hearing this.

Damon stopped in his motions to get off the ground. He tried to put up his front of indifference but couldn't quite ban the hurt from his eyes.

"Yeah, just like old times," he growled. "The only difference is that I'm not in love with you this time, you manipulative bitch!"

Instead of raising to the bait like he'd expected her to Katherine merely raised an eyebrow and, coming to stand directly in front of him and pressing him into the wall with her body, she wagged a finger in front of Damon's face.

"You're right, Damon," she smiled sweetly but her eyes remained calculating and cruel. "This time around you're in love with another girl, a pathetic little human no less, that chose and will forever choose your little brother over you." Damon flinched as if he'd been slapped in the face.

"So, whichever way you look at it, some things just never change, do they, Damon? You'll always be second best."

Damon tore his eyes away and gulped forcefully. She was right, wasn't she? He'd always been second best. Next to Stefan he'd never stood a chance. Not with his father nor with Katherine, and certainly not with Elena. Katherine was right.

"Stop it!"

Elena's voice cut through Katherine's cruelties and made the vampire turn away from Damon to face her instead. Elena walked briskly up to her vampire doppelganger and her eyes blazed with a dangerous fire. "Stop hurting him, or…"

"Or?" Katherine laughed out loud. "Is that a threat, my dear Elena?"

"Yes, it is!"

"Elena," Stefan pulled the girl back to his side. "Step back from her. You're not helping."

"Neither are you," Elena spat back at him. She turned to Katherine again. "So, you say you can't be killed?"

"Uh-uh," Katherine shook her head in obvious amusement.

"So what happens next?"

"Oh," Katherine smiled and started circling around the room again. "I'm glad somebody chose to get us back on track again. We're on a schedule here after all." She was carefully avoiding stepping into the pentagram on the floor, something only Damon noticed. He filed that information away for later.

"Now, my dear Elena," Katherine continued and she could barely hold her glee at bay. "Damon here needs to take dearly-departed Bonnie's place in completing the spell. The witch was bound to do so by a strong binding magic and the only way out of that bond is by death. The bond as well as the powers transferred to the one that killed her. So… you do the math, Elena."

Elena's eyes locked with Damon's but it was Stefan that spoke eventually. "Wait, does that mean that Damon's a witch now?"

Damon snorted out loud. "No way!"

Despite his situation he couldn't help but laugh and even Elena's lips twisted upwards.

"Not quite up to your usually so bright standards, my dear Stefan, are you?" Katherine smiled and trailed a lazy hand down his arm. Stefan pulled away quickly. "Damon's not a witch. You can't just pass something so powerful like witchcraft on to someone like a cold, by touch or a simple sneeze. You should know that."

"But you just said that…"

Elena was cut off by Katherine's hand around her throat. "Hush now, dear. Let the grown-ups talk for a bit, huh?" She walked up to where Damon stood with his back against the wall. Katherine took hold of his chin and although Damon tried to push her away he was forced to look into those eyes he'd once so loved and now so despised.

"You don't feel it yet, do you?"

"Feel what?" Damon ground out when she released his jaw at last.

"The power of course. And the binding magic," Katherine smiled around. "The latter will make sure you use the power, wear it like a coat and complete the spell."

"What if I don't?" Damon asked, his voice casual and his eyebrows rising in mocking. "I've never really liked coats, Katherine. I've always figured myself as more of a jacket kind of guy. I don't particularly like the constricted feeling around the chest, you know what I mean?"

Katherine sent him a sweet smile. "Oh, you will wear it, Damon. I'm sure of it. The binding magic is strong. There's no way you can resist. Soon you'll feel it, creeping up your body and setting your skin on fire with the heat of a thousand suns. According to what it did to poor Bonnie I'd say it's quite painful, at least if you fight it. But there's really no need for that, Damon."

Damon suddenly pushed his body away from the wall. He started pacing back and forth the cave under the watchful eyes of Katherine as well as worried glances from Stefan and Elena.

"Ah, you're starting to feel it, aren't you, Damon?" Katherine chuckled amused.

Damon shot her a dark glare before his eyes briefly glided over Elena and Stefan. Then he quickly looked to the ground.

Katherine was right. A sudden heat was taking hold of his body; it started in his toes and fingers and slowly but steadily crept inwards. It didn't feel too uncomfortable (yet), only it tried to remind him that there was something he had to do. It was pushing him to step into the middle of the cave, right into the pentagram. But Damon was able to ignore it, for now at least.

Because he was focusing all his energies into understanding what was happening in his head right now. A strange and sudden onslaught of knowledge filled his head. The power of the spell, whatever it had been, was taking hold of his brain; it possessed his thoughts, filling his every fiber with odd bits and pieces of ancient information.

But along with a sudden crystal-clear image of what Katherine had planned, of what she wanted from him and what he'd have to do if he accepted the power, if he took the gift and ran with it…

Something else, another thought entirely, suddenly began to form in Damon's head. He didn't know if the knowledge was forced into his mind by the spell or by something else… all he knew in that instant was that if he'd use this newfound knowledge, this new power, rightly…

Katherine would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.

Only him.

Damon didn't hesitate for a second, once the thought was formed in his head. He turned to Katherine and said: "Okay, Katherine. I play. But I have one condition."

"I knew you'd give in easily, Damon. For this, for being right about you once again, I'm inclined to listen to your condition. Listen, not agree to, mind you."

Damon wasn't swayed. His eyes never leaving Katherine's he gestured towards Elena and Stefan. "You will let them go. Now."

Katherine's eyebrows rose but she seemed to contemplate the plea in silence. Not so Elena though. She spoke up, shock clearly audible in her voice: "Damon, no! Don't give in to her! Fight against it. I know you can, you are strong, Damon. Fight it!"

Damon's blue eyes bore into Elena's. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be able to let her in on his plan. He wanted to tell her the truth. He hated having to lie to her, betray her, making her believe he was giving in to Katherine and the power of the spell.

But he had to get her out of here, now! She and Stefan needed to leave.

If he only could think about a way to make her understand what he was about to do.

Wait! There was a way! It was nothing but a long-shot, she wouldn't even remember, would she? Damon sighed, determined to try it. It was his only hope of making her understand that he wasn't about to betray them.

Damon walked up to Elena until his face was a hair's breathe away, and with his index finger he traced a line along the soft curve of her jaw. "Fight it, Elena?"

"Yes, please Damon! I know you can. I believe in you." Elena's eyes shone with unshed tears.

Damon closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again they were hard and cold. Intense. "We can't kill her, Elena. We can't outrun her either. You know that. So why shouldn't I just stay here and see what comes next? I don't have any plans for tonight apart from a nice quiet evening in front of the TV, watching a re-run of Stargate SG-1." His voice was urgent, willing her to understand. "So, you go and watch that for me, Elena. Please. I'll stay here. After all, why fight when you know you can never win?"

Elena's sharp and sudden intake of breath was the only proof Damon had that she's gotten his meaning. She understood. She remembered their one night, long ago, watching TV together.

"But, Damon," Elena whispered. "You can't… I mean, how long…?"

"As long as it takes," Damon cut her off, determined to get this over with. He could feel the power inside him and he wanted Elena and Stefan as far away from him as possible when he chose to do something with it. Unleash it eventually.

Elena's soft hands cupping his face brought Damon back to stare at the girl in front of him. "Damon," Elena choked and he could see a tear role down her face. "You don't have to…"

"Yes, I do. Elena, there's no other way, you know that."

"I know," she nodded. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this. I wish it didn't have to be you."

Damon was slightly taken aback by her words but he knew he didn't have the time to contemplate what they really meant. So he did the first thing he could think of. He shrugged her words off to mean nothing but being the lies of a girl that wanted to make him feel better in their last moments together. He decided there and then that he owed her the same.

Damon took a step back, gave Elena one of those eye-things she'd complained about, and smirked: "Who else would you want it to be, Elena? It can't be anyone else. You'll get over it, believe me. You'll be fine. You'll have Stefan by your side. And compared to him, I'm only second best after all."

Before Elena could find the words to contradict him, Katherine stepped in between the two.

"Okay, enough with the cryptic TV references and the touchy-feelings already." She pulled Elena away from Damon and gave her a shove that sent her flying right into Stefan's arms.

"One more word from either of you," Katherine smiled at them, "and I'm gonna change my mind about giving you a head-start out of here. So… go. Now."

"What do you mean, a head-start?" Damon thought he'd been clear earlier. They would be let go, they would be safe.

"As soon as we're finished here, Damon," Katherine smiled at him and pulled him into the direction of the pentagram on the ground. "I'm gonna get what I really want. Who I really wanted, from the very beginning. Stefan." Damon tried to stop his feet from moving but the sudden pull inside was too strong. He turned around to where Elena and Stefan still stood, watching them.

"Get her out of here. Now."

His words were meant for Stefan and he didn't dare to lift his eyes to Elena's face. He wanted the last memory he'd have of her be the one from before, when she'd stood before him, tears and understanding bright in her eyes.

"Thank you, Damon," his brother said softly and then he pulled Elena into the tunnel and out of harm's way.

Damon didn't hear him anymore. A sudden storm was raging inside his head, it was howling in his ears and made him stumble backwards in pain. The second he'd breached the pentagram's lines the power Bonnie had conveyed to him earlier took hold of him.

Damon cried out in sudden pain. Something was crawling inside of him, making its way through his veins, something that seemed to be far too large for them. He felt like all his veins were split open at once and he was bleeding internally.

"And so it begins," Katherine watched him from the sidelines, a small smile playing around her lips.

"So it does," Damon answered and all of a sudden, too quick for her to realize, grabbed hold of Katherine's waist and pulled her flush to his burning body. "And it will never end."

"Noooo!" Katherine cried out in shock and tried to break free. But Damon had managed to get a hold on the power flowing through his veins and he focused all his energies on holding her close to him.

"What are you doing? You're not… Let me go!" Katherine trashed frantically in his arms. Damon threw himself to the ground, careful not to overstep the boundaries of the pentagram with any part of his body, and buried Katherine's smaller form under him.

"Let go, Damon. Don't fight it! There's no use! You can't kill me, so what…?"

"I know that I can't kill you, Katherine," Damon's voice was calm. Determined. Almost smug. She'd fallen for it. Elena was safe!

"Then what are you trying to… ?"

"I can't kill you, Katherine," Damon smirked down into her furious face. "I'm not going to. But I can fight you."

"Why fight when you know you can never win?" Katherine unconsciously repeated his earlier words. Damon's smirk grew even wider.

"Because this way you'll have no other choice than to fight me back. You can't do anything else. As long as I fight you, you can do nothing but fight me back and you won't be able to hurt anyone else. Ever again."

"I can hurt you," Katherine stared back at him with wide-open eyes.

"I don't care," Damon shrugged and renewed his hold on her. "Do your best, Katherine. Nothing you'll do can really hurt me as long as I know that she's safe and far away from you."

For a second Katherine forgot to even struggle against Damon's hold. "Even if you know she's with Stefan?" Her voice sounded feeble, incredulous.

"Even then," Damon replied.

Katherine had nothing to shoot back and even if she'd known what to say… Damon wouldn't have been able to hear her.

A sudden hot wave of power had just shot through his body and had nearly fried his brain in the process. He cried out in agony and his body convulsed and snapped back and forth in spasms. He could feel Katherine's do the same.

Then it was suddenly over and Damon lay still, Katherine's body squashed underneath his heavier form. She didn't move.

Damon lifted his head to look at her and one of the last things he saw before blackness engulfed his senses was…

Katherine's slack face, gray like ashes and with the veins on her neck and chin and forehead standing out like steel cords underneath the skin.

She was dead.

The incredulous smile that made it onto Damon's face stayed with him even when he finally fell unconscious from the pain inside.

He'd done it, somehow. Katherine was gone for good.

She would never be able to hurt Elena ever again.

'And that's well worth dying for,' was the last thought Damon had.

* * *

**TBC**

_I know, another cliffhanger, though not as evil as before, right? Now you know almost all of what happened to Damon. The only thing missing is the part where he didn't die after all but got rescued and brought back to the boarding house. It will come, though not in a flashback. The rest of the story will be told from present times. And it will get much, much lighter and more fun than this chapter was. Linus will make an appearance again and he'll finally meet Damon. Looking forward to it? Let me know._


	6. Catching Up

_Ugh, hello there. I don't know if there's anybody still interested in this story but I suddenly felt the need to continue it. I'm terribly sorry for my long absence and since I can't blame you for not remembering where we left off… here's a short recap of chapters one to five._

_Damon wakes up from a magically induced coma that's lasted for five years. He's at home, at the boarding house, but it belongs to Ric and his family now (meaning Jenna and their four-year-old son Linus). There's also a young woman named Leslie there who he doesn't know. Damon doesn't r__emember anything after Founder's Day and so Elena tells him what happened. Apparently Katherine wanted to do some magic and enslave the whole town but Damon managed to kill her and sacrificed himself for it._

_This is the last that happened in the flashback:_

'_A sudden hot wave of power had just shot through his body and had nearly fried his brain in the process. He cried out in agony and his body convulsed and snapped back and forth in spasms. He could feel Katherine's do the same._

_Then it was suddenly over and Damon lay still, Katherine's body squashed underneath his heavier form. She didn't move._

_Damon lifted his head to look at her and one of the last things he saw before blackness engulfed his senses was…_

_Katherine's slack face, gray like ashes and with the veins on her neck and chin and forehead standing out like steel cords underneath the skin._

_She was dead._

_The incredulous smile that made it onto Damon's face stayed with him even when he finally fell unconscious from the pain inside._

_He'd done it, somehow. Katherine was gone for good._

_She would never be able to hurt Elena ever again._

'_And that's well worth dying for,' was the last thought Damon had.'_

_And now here we go: _

* * *

Chapter Six: **Catching Up**

Elena finished her recap of past events by telling Damon how she and Stefan had fled from the tomb under a sudden onslaught of thunder and lightning. The earth had grumbled and shaken, trees had started falling all around them like simple matches and they'd known instinctively that whatever magic had taken hold of Damon, he'd been unleashing it then.

This thing, this magical thunderstorm-earthquake-mix or whatever you'd want to call it, had lasted the entire night and Elena had lain awake in Stefan's arms, sobs wrecking her body every second she'd thought about the sacrifice Damon had made to save them all.

At this point in her story Damon couldn't stop himself from interrupting Elena with a scoffed: "Sacrifice? I wouldn't call it that, Elena."

"What would you call it then?" Elena gave the vampire by her side a raised eyebrow. "You saved the entire town, Damon, by killing Katherine."

"See, that's what I don't get," Damon sat up straight against the headboard and faced her with a frown. "How did I kill her when she couldn't be killed, huh? I mean, was she lying about that?"

"No," Elena shook her head. "Katherine fully believed that she was protected by the spell. But she hadn't thought that you'd fight her without the intention of actually killing her. That tiny fact proved to be a bit of a loophole in the spell."

"Convenient," Damon smirked but quickly grew serious again. "How do you know all this?"

"Serena explained it to us after…" Seeing Damon's confused look Elena quickly elaborated: "She's Bonnie's cousin. Serena Bennett. We met at Bonnie's funeral. She's also a witch and she knew a lot about that spell Katherine did. And about what had happened to you. Though, even she couldn't explain why you weren't dead when the spell clearly should have killed you. We think you survived because you didn't exactly wield the power for its purpose but for sacrificing yourself to save everyone. But we're not sure."

"Huh," was all Damon could muster. He still had some trouble thinking he'd done all that. He was no hero, in fact he'd always thought of himself as quite the contrary, and yet…

"And, to be completely honest," Elena's voice broke Damon out of his reverie. "After the first few weeks we kind of stopped wondering how you survived. We were just glad you did."

"Yeah, right. I bet you were. Especially my brother. Not."

"How can you say that, Damon?" Elena shook her head, clearly not agreeing with him. "It was Stefan who worked day and night, trying to find your body. He didn't rest, didn't feed or sleep, all he could think about was getting to you."

"How very touching!" Damon felt safer to mock his brother's efforts when in reality he was stunned and overwhelmed by the obvious display of brotherly love. He knew deep down that he would have done the same for Stefan, if their roles had been reversed, and yet… somehow he hadn't believed Stefan had ever felt the same about him.

"Damon!" Elena slapped his arm, upset that he'd belittle Stefan's actions like that. "You should really be grateful. If it hadn't been for Stefan you'd still be there now, buried alive under all that rubble!"

"Rubble?"

"Yeah, you see," Elena took Damon's hand in hers again, "whatever you did with that magic power, it brought the whole place down. The tomb, the ruins, almost the entire woods around, everything collapsed and it left nothing but a big hole full of charred stone and ashes. Stefan worked for four days and nights straight to clear it all away before he got to you. He wouldn't let me down there to help, so I don't know… all I know is that when he finally came carrying you out I thought for sure that you were dead. Your clothes were burnt and you were… you looked dead. Damon, I swear, my heart stopped seeing you like that."

Damon didn't know how to react to this admission, so he kept quiet and stared down at their hands intertwined. Elena seemed to pick up on his overwhelmed state because she fell silent as well but held his hand in comfort.

The silence stretched on and Damon would have been content just to lie there infinitely, Elena by his side, but suddenly a low rumble emanated from Elena's stomach.

Damon turned to face her. "Seems like someone skipped lunch today, huh?"

Elena let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Well yeah, I'd just gotten home earlier and I was about to get me a sandwich when Linus told me…"

"The boy that used me as a playground?"

"He did what?" Elena's eyes bugged but when Damon elaborated how he'd woken up to the kid playing rocky road on him a big smile made it onto her features. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He's a whirlwind but… he's a great kid. And he adores you, Damon. He's probably downstairs, bugging his parents to no end because he can't wait to finally meet you."

Again Damon didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't believe that people, no matter how big or small they were, would see him as a hero. So he quickly thought of something to change the subject.

"And the girl?"

"Huh?" Elena frowned confused. "What girl?"

"The one who was here earlier," Damon explained. "Leslie or something? Who's she?"

"Oh, right, you don't know her!" Elena tugged a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "She's a good friend of mine. We met in med school and became friends very quickly. She helped me a lot with… ugh," something seemed to embarrass Elena and she quickly added: "She's also Jeremy's fiancée. The wedding's planned two weeks from now."

Damon watched Elena closely. "And she helped you a lot with what?"

"Ugh, never mind," quick, too quick for Damon to react, Elena changed the subject. "So, are you hungry? I mean, do you need blood? I know you need it, but do you think you're up for drinking some already?"

Damon eyed her for a second, contemplating whether or not to insist that she'd explain, but then he realized that she was right. He could do with a bit of blood. He looked past her to where that horrible feeding machine from before still stood with the blood bag hooked up.

"Let's find out, huh?"

Elena nodded and quickly stood up from the bed. With sure hands she unhooked the blood bag and then filled the crimson liquid into a glass. Damon took it and, feeling her watchful gaze on him, rolled his eyes.

"Elena, cut it out. I'm fine. I've been drinking blood for 150 years, so…"

"You haven't drunk any in five years, Damon!" Elena countered, hand on her hips. "You don't know how your body's gonna react to drinking blood now. I'm entitled to worry, you know?"

"Are you?"

Damon was once again taken aback by her fierce stance. He still couldn't believe that Elena would go through all the trouble that taking care of him for five years must have been. It's not that he didn't appreciate it, just… why had she done it? Had it been out of some sense of duty? Or was there more to it?

Elena was silent, waiting for him to act with her hands on her hips. Finally Damon shrugged and lifted the glass to his mouth.

"Guess I missed the memo then," he grumbled right before taking a cautious sip.

"Of course you missed it, you were in a coma!"

Damon nearly spit the blood back out. "Elena," he coughed. "Was that a joke?"

Elena merely threw him a quick grin. Damon shook his head, stunned. Then he took another cautious mouthful of blood and, when his taste buds almost exploded from sheer bliss, quickly gulped down the whole thing.

"Good?" Elena enquired and took the glass from his hands. Seeing Damon nod in approval she smiled relieved. "Good, there's plenty more where this came from."

"And where would that be?" Had she secretly raided the hospital for him? Damon wouldn't put it past her. It was becoming obvious pretty quickly that Elena had changed a great deal over the years. She seemed to be more carefree, more laid-back.

"The fridge downstairs," Elena threw over her shoulder. She'd gone over to the walk-in closet and was soon enough emerging with a pair of black jeans and a shirt. She threw the clothes on the bed.

"What's that?"

"Duh," Elena rolled her eyes. "Your clothes. I thought you'd be eager to get out of bed after…"

Not waiting for her to finish Damon threw back the covers and slid to the edge of the bed. In the blink of an eye he was dressed in his usual dark outfit and smirked at her, arms thrown apart.

"Ta-da!" He made his way over to her, not as graceful and quick as he'd have liked but not falling on his ass either. That was good, wasn't it?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Elena eyed him, the former worry once again present in her face.

"Yes, Elena. I'm fine, I'm up, and now I wanna get out of here."

"Okay, let's get this over with then." To Damon's utter astonishment Elena took his hand and led him to the door.

"What, what do you mean?" Damon had trouble forming words suddenly. Her small hand in his, willingly, was taking away all his brain functions.

"Oh, you know," Elena shrugged and opened the door. "The others. Jeremy and Leslie, Ric and Jenna, and not to mention Linus. They're all downstairs, waiting for you."

"Oh God," Damon groaned and stopped in his tracks.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Damon Salvatore, a coward?" She tugged on his hand to get him to move again. But it wasn't her words nor her pathetic pulling on him that got Damon to come downstairs with her.

It was the simple gesture of her hand in his that did it.

Damon would follow her anywhere, if only she'd never let go of his hand again.

* * *

**TBC**

_I really hope that I won't need as much time as before to update again. Now that we're finally getting to the good stuff. But I can't promise you anything. Nevertheless, reviews might spur me on to write more, and fast.  
_


	7. The End Of A Very Long First Day

**Five Years Gone**

Chapter Seven

_Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. Damon meets the others. But please keep in mind that Season 2 never happened and this is AU, so everyone is a bit OOC here. And of course Damon and Alaric aren't BFF's yet._

_I wanna thank everyone who stuck around and never gave up hope that I'd continue this. This is for you. And I have to shout out a big 'Thank you' to **CheckeredYcats** who reminded me of a wonderful character I had completely forgotten about. I hope you're satisfied with the way I brought that character into the mix._

* * *

**The End Of A Very Long First Day**

Damon and Elena hadn't made it fully downstairs - still hand in hand, much to Damon's delight – when an excited cry reached their ears: "Mommy, can I go now? Can I, mommy?"

A second later something short and blurry dashed out of the kitchen and threw itself right into Damon's path.

"Damon," Linus panted breathlessly and, arms fastening around the vampire's waist, he began to tug at Damon. "Come and play with me!"

Damon nearly stumbled and stared in shock at the mop of blond hair at his hips before his eyes sought out Elena's.

Elena had to suppress a giggle. Damon's face seemed to beg 'A little help here? Get it off me!' and she was about to take pity on him and pry the kid away when suddenly Alaric appeared in the halls.

"Linus," he chided his son and unceremoniously pulled him away. He scooped him up and sat him onto his own hips. "What did I tell you, huh?"

Linus lip jutted out. "Not to bug Damon."

"Right, so…" Ric gave his son another stern headshake before his eyes finally fell onto Damon. "Damon…"

"Ric," Damon cocked his head to one side and waited for the teacher to continue. Alaric's eyes scanned Damon from head to toe, an eyebrow rising the only sign that he'd noticed the hand-holding with Elena, before his gaze finally landed on Damon's face again.

"You look… ugh, you're doing okay?"

Damon didn't miss the implied question. 'Are you stable? Is it safe for me to let my son near you? Do I need to grab the vervain darts?'

"I'm doing good," Damon replied and with a sidelong glance at Elena added: "Still a little confused but… yeah, I'm fine." He hoped Alaric could hear the unspoken 'No need to worry, I'm not gonna start chewing on the kid' in his words.

It seemed that the strange mental connection they'd begun to develop five years ago was still working because eventually Alaric relaxed and nodded.

"Good."

Then, with a look at the squirming boy in his arms, he added: "So, I think you've already met this young man."

"Yep," Damon spared the boy a quick glance. "Linus, right? Hi there."

Linus beamed back and squirmed in his fathers arms, wanting to be let down immediately. "Damon, are you gonna play with me now?"

Alaric prominently cleared his throat and Linus added sheepishly: "Please?"

Damon's eyes traveled from the kid to Ric and back. He was a bit at a loss for words, to be honest. He'd never been good with kids, well… he'd never really dealt with kids before. At least not since becoming a vampire. Of course Damon remembered the time when he'd been human and Stefan had followed him around like a puppy. But that had been different. Nowadays… Damon didn't know what to do.

He looked at Ric again, secretly hoping that he'd be spared an answer by some kind of interference on his part. But Alaric seemed to simply wait for something.

Eventually Damon shrugged. "What do you wanna play, kiddo?"

"Car race," Linus shot back, not missing a beat. "You can have my favorite car. And I made pictures for you, do you wanna see them? And we have to play hide and seek but you can't cheat. I'll show you the best hiding spots. And you have to push me on the swing in the garden, can we go outside? And can I see your vamp face? Is it scary? Show me, please Damon. Show me?"

Damon had taken slow steps backwards with every word that had spilled from the kid's mouth. Only Elena's firm hold on his hand was keeping him from bolting entirely. Ric noticed and, suppressing an amused smirk, finally took pity.

"Hey, slow down, grasshopper," he pulled Linus' head around to look him in the eye. "Damon's been very sick, remember?"

"Oh," Linus' face fell but a second later he beamed at Damon again. "Do you wanna have pancakes? When I'm sick Mommy always makes me pancakes and then I get better. Do you like pancakes? What's your favorite thing to eat?"

"My favorite thing to eat," Damon smirked. "Let's see, what is that?"

Alaric didn't like the look on Damon's face one bit and so, before Damon could continue, he quickly shot: "Of course Damon likes pancakes, right?"

The glare Ric shot him was so intense and daring that Damon was really tempted to contradict him. Just for the fun of it. Let's see how the teacher would cope with this. But then his eyes fell onto the kid's face, all innocent and enthusiastic, and Damon knew instantly… he'd lost. He didn't have it in him to crush the boy, God knows why. So with a suppressed sigh and rolling his eyes he finally nodded. "Of course. I love pancakes. But only if they're drowned in maple syrup."

"Me too," Linus beamed.

"Speaking of things to eat," Damon suddenly remembered why he'd come downstairs in the first place. He turned towards Elena who'd up to now watched the scene in silence. "Didn't you say something about plenty more where that… ugh, that bag came from?"

"Right," Elena remembered. "I'll get you something from the fridge." She decided then to dissolve the somewhat awkward moment by addressing Linus. "Why don't you go pick up the pictures you drew for Damon and show them to him, huh?"

"Can I, daddy?" Linus begged and tried to wriggle out of Alaric's hold.

Ric put him down to the ground. "Sure, off you go!"

Linus dashed away and Elena let go of Damon's hand. "I'll be right back."

Damon watched her go and Ric in turn watched Damon's face closely. Then he let out a not so subtle cough to pull Damon's attention back to him. "Ugh, thanks for… you know, not going into details about your eating habits. I'm not sure how much Linus really gets yet."

"I'll give you that, Ric. You've got your hands full with that one."

"You have no idea," Ric shook his head, eyes traveling to where his son had vanished. True father's pride radiated from Ric in spades and Damon suddenly felt something tug painfully in his chest. His heart? He shrugged it off and smirked instead: "So, Linus, huh? What on earth made you pick that name? Let me guess, you were drunk."

Ric was about to protest when a female voice suddenly chimed in from behind: "No, he wasn't. I chose the name Linus and I happen to like it."

"Jenna," Damon sent his most charming smile at the woman who now joined them in the halls. Once again he was surprised by the sheer beauty she seemed to radiate. "I have to say, Jenna, the pregnancy suits you. You look… gorgeous."

Damon didn't miss the quick look Ric and Jenna shared; a look so full of love and happiness that he had to add: "I guess you must be doing something right, Ric."

"Oh yeah," Jenna smiled a secret smile and blushed. To cover up for it she gave Damon the once over. "You don't look too bad yourself, Damon."

And then she surprised both men by suddenly pulling Damon into a tight hug (as tight as her protruding belly would allow, that is). "Welcome home, Damon," she gushed into his ear and Damon, stunned beyond belief, needed a moment until he tentatively hugged Jenna back.

"Ugh, thanks."

Jenna let go of him and took a step back. She noticed her husband's shocked stare and shrugged: "Don't look so shocked, honey. Blame it on the hormones."

"Right, the hormones," Ric shook his head before he turned around and started walking into the living room. "I need a drink. Damon?"

"Glad to notice that at least one thing hasn't changed," Damon smirked and followed him.

* * *

Later that night, after they'd all shared dinner and Ric and Jenna were busy getting a completely hyped and overtired Linus to bed, Damon and Elena settled next to each other in front of the fireplace. Damon was about to test the waters by throwing an arm around her when Elena suddenly shot up and gasped: "Oh my God! I completely forgot!"

"What?" Damon watched her grab her cell phone. "What is it, Elena?"

"Stefan! I haven't told him…"

Damon jumped up and snatched the cell away from her. "Don't bother."

"Damon," Elena's voice was firm. "I need to call him. He needs to know!"

Damon held her gaze for a second. When she didn't budge but kept staring at him relentlessly he finally caved. She was right, wasn't she? With a sigh he opened the contact list and after a bit of scrolling found Stefan's name.

"You don't keep him on speed dial, Elena? I'm shocked!" Damon smirked at her and held the phone out of reach when she tried to grab it.

"Damon, I don't think it's a good idea if you…"

"Oh, come on Elena," Damon pouted and hit dial. "This is gonna be fun!"

He sat down on the couch again and waited for the line to connect.

"Fun?" Elena doubted but sat down next to him. "Stefan's gonna get a heart attack the second he hears your voice."

"Good thing he's already dead then, huh?" Damon winked.

He listened to the phone ringing two, three, four times and wondered what could be keeping his brother so long (he was probably busy chasing Bambi through some German forest) when the line was finally picked up.

"Elena?" Stefan's voice sounded a bit out of breath, yet pleasantly surprised. "Hey, how are you?"

Damon kept quiet for another second before he drawled: "Hel-lo brother!"

You could have heard a needle drop in the following silence. In fact, Damon did hear something drop to the ground on Stefan's end. Probably a half-drained Bambi.

"Damon?"

"Surpri-ise!" Damon sing-songed.

Again a few seconds of silence fell. Damon grinned at Elena who in turn scowled back at him. She almost regretted handing the phone over to Damon. She should have known that he would enjoy shocking his brother far too much. And poor Stefan could probably be knocked over with a feather right now. But, seeing the look of pure joy on Damon's face… well, Elena thought with a smile, perhaps it was worth it.

"Damon," Stefan had finally regained enough composure to form words again. "How…? When…?"

"Very eloquent, brother. I see you haven't changed a bit over the years." Damon smirked. "I woke up this morning and I thought I'd say hi. So… hi!"

"Ugh, you woke up? Just like that?" Stefan sounded incredulous. Then, voice low, he asked: "Are you okay?"

"Oh, thanks for your concern, brother. How very touching," Damon chuckled. "I'm fine." With another look at Elena by his side he repeated: "Really, couldn't feel better right now."

"That's… that's great, Damon. I'm glad."

"What's the matter, Stef? Please don't tell me you're crying?" Damon thought he'd heard Stefan gulp heavily.

"I'm not crying, Damon," Stefan sighed into the phone. "I'm, I just…" another sigh could be heard. Then Stefan's voice changed immediately. "Is Elena with you?"

"Yep, she's right here," Damon couldn't help but taunt his brother some more. "In fact, she hasn't left my side ever since I woke up. Quite devoted, isn't she?"

"Hey," Elena groused from the side and tried to snatch the phone from his hands. Of course Damon was quicker. He jumped up and was across the room in a second. "She's taking really good care of me and has done so for a long time."

"I know," Stefan shot back unimpressed. "She complained to me regularly about having to haul your heavy ass into the bath tub. In fact, just a few days ago…"

"What?" Damon's eyes grew large. Elena had bathed him? While he had been unconscious? Damn it!

"Damon, give me the phone," Elena stood in front of him, one hand outstretched and the other on her hip. "Now! You've had your fun."

Without a word Damon complied, thoughts preoccupied with the mental image Stefan's comment had just given him.

"Hey Stefan," he heard Elena smile into the phone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let him shock you like that. But…"

"It's okay, Elena. Well, it's Damon. What do you expect?" Stefan chuckled and Damon, who was listening in, frowned. Stefan was chuckling? Huh? What had happened to his brooding brother? He sounded almost… happy.

"So," Stefan continued, "how is he, really? Is he okay?"

Damon's frown deepened. "He is standing right here and he doesn't like…"

Elena talked right over him: "He's fine, Stefan. He doesn't remember much and he's had a bit of trouble adjusting to everything that's happened but… yeah, he seems to be fine."

"Wow," Stefan breathed out. "That's really…"

"Yeah," Elena gulped and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "All this time and… It's a miracle."

Stefan seemed to sense her distress but instead of comforting her like he would have done years ago, he tried to lighten the mood instead. "My brother the miracle, right!"

Elena cracked up due to the funny look that spread over Damon's face hearing that. Damon on the other hand couldn't be more confused right now. What the hell was going on here? His brooding brother, cracking jokes? He'd have thought Stefan would come crawling through the phone in order to comfort Elena. What in God's name had changed their relationship to this?

Damon walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a Bourbon. Elena meanwhile had sat down on the couch again. "So, Stefan," her voice turned lighter: "You're still coming over for the wedding, right?"

"Of course, as soon as Caroline has found the perfect dress we'll be on a plane."

Elena laughed. She could clearly imagine her friend roaming Germany's finest boutiques, chasing the perfect dress and not giving up until she found it.

Suddenly Elena could feel Damon's questioning eyes on her and she realized that he didn't know about Caroline yet. She quickly sobered up. There were so many thing she'd still have to tell him…

She grabbed Damon's hand and pulled until he plopped down next to her. "Stefan, I'm sorry but… I gotta go. There's still so much I have to tell Damon. We'll talk soon, okay?"

"Of course," Stefan replied. "I'll let you know when we're coming."

"Bye, Stefan. And tell Caroline I said hi."

"I will. Bye, Elena." Sure that Damon was still listening in, Stefan added softly: "Bye Damon, see you soon!"

"Brother," Damon intoned absentmindedly. He was still trying to come to terms with all he'd just learned. Only when Elena closed her phone and threw it aside he seemed to snap out of it.

"So, what was that? Stefan and… Caroline?" Damon thought he'd heard wrong. "Don't tell me my brother's taken a page out of my book and is shacking up with Blondie now?"

"Ugh, Damon," Elena turned towards him, one leg bent and tucked under her. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and Damon knew instantly that she was working up the courage to say something shocking. "I guess you don't remember. Caroline's a vampire."

"What?" Damon's jaw hit the ground. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," Elena shook her head. "Katherine turned her right after Founder's Day."

"She's been a vampire for five years?" Damon couldn't believe it. "God, she must make the most annoying and neurotic vampire ever!"

"You'd be surprised, Damon. She's…" Elena tried to find the words to describe the changes in her friend. True, as a human Caroline had been kind of annoying and neurotic at times. But now…

"She's really brilliant, Damon. She proved all of you wrong." Seeing Damon's questioning eyebrow Elena clarified: "Everyone believed Caroline wouldn't make it as a vampire. You were the first to suggest staking her back then. Truth is, you even tried."

"Of course I did," Damon didn't remember but it sure as hell sounded like him. "What I don't understand though… why is she still around?"

"Because I stopped you," Elena answered. "You were all angry with me but Stefan was willing to give it a shot. So he tried to teach her and, well… it worked. She's doing great now."

"Oh, so she's adopted the Stefan-diet?" Damon scoffed. Great.

"No," Elena smiled sheepishly. "Caroline tried to stick to animal blood for a while but then… she said she just couldn't eat cute little animals. She kept talking about the pet rabbit she had as a kid and… well, long story short, she's off the animal blood and sticking to blood bags."

"And St. Stefan's okay with it? What happened to the tortured brooding brother I once had? The one that condemned everyone not willing to adopt the Stefan-diet?"

"Ugh, Damon," Elena placed a hand on his knee just when he was lifting the tumbler of Bourbon to his mouth. Damon nearly choked in shock. He still wasn't used to Elena's casual touches and friendly gestures.

"There's no such thing as a Stefan-diet anymore. He drinks human blood, too."

This time Damon really choked on his Bourbon.

* * *

**TBC**

_I'm not really satisfied with the last part here. Promise to try better next time. In the meantime let me know what you think._


End file.
